Heartbeat
by insidejokes
Summary: Then she walked into Ops. She walked into Ops and in the space of a second every foolish hope that she'd dreamt up since they'd kissed came crashing down around her.
1. Chapter 1

_THE FINALE. My brain is sort of dead right now, not even sure how I made it through the day. I wrote this because I have no idea what else I could do to cope with everything that tptb hit us with in 'Descent'. While reading this, just remember: If Kensi seems out of character at the beginning, she is. It was strangely fun to write giddy, lovestruck Kensi- at least for a while. _

_Reviews, on any of my stories, honestly make my entire day. Chapter 2 will be up soon enough, till then, enjoy!_

Kensi Blye was not easily shaken. 'Was' being the operative term because, as she was only now realizing, these past few weeks she'd been acting distinctly un-Kensi in every way. She'd flirted while not undercover, laughed like a lunatic, and made her partner promise something that was the stuff of cheesy rom-coms. Hell, she'd had a play fight. _On a bed. _None of these things were even remotely her, and the common denominator? Her partner. Her ridiculous, teasing blabbermouthed, welcoming, understanding, kind, brilliant partner. Her partner who, earlier today, had cut off her complaints with a kiss,

And _wow, _what a kiss. It was as if every careful word and frightening though either of them had had over the past three years had come pouring out in that one impulsive moment. And Kensi Blye, for all her talk of being unshakable had been completely and utterly speechless.

Still in her car in the parking lot at the mission, Kensi allowed herself a smile; closing her eyes and, for a moment, letting herself be the completely stupid, lovestruck teenage girl she felt like.

He'd kissed her.

Marty Deeks had kissed her.

Well damn it, she was never going to be able to stop smiling now.

Okay, yes, she'd run away- but that was the thing (one of many) about Deeks. She could run, hide, make whatever stupid decisions she would, but he would be there. Her one constant, no matter how undeserving she was.

_My Deeks, _she thought giddily, trying and failing to bring herself back to a vaguely logical mindset.

He had kissed her.

Sighing contentedly, Kensi closed her eyes, briefly forgetting the stress of the day. Then she jumped as her phone buzzed loudly. Glancing at the screen, she saw a text from Ops: "Where r u?".

That was enough to sober her mood, at least temporarily. She let herself out of the car and into the building, jogging up towards the mission. God, she never wanted to see a flight of stairs again- although, given the alternative, it seemed a small price to pay. She'd managed to pull Michelle up, and, with her help, restrain the Russian Bond girls. She'd dropped them off at the boatshed before heading back to Ops to get briefed on what to do next. Deeks and Callen had probably switched out on the surveillence by now. He was probably already here, or at least on his way. (_Stop it_, she chastised her heart when it beat faster) Her partner would have her back again, and they'd be better than ever.

Then she walked into Ops.

She walked into Ops and in the space of a second every foolish hope that she'd dreamt up since they'd kiss came crashing down around her.

Granger, Nell, and Eric were huddled around the computer, Nell's eyes flickering up only briefly before darting back down. Eric looked vaguely horrified, not making eye contact. Kensi's eyes swung to Callen, who was standing alone a few steps away. He met her eyes briefly, jaw locked as if he'd tasted something unpleasant. Then she looked at Hetty. The small woman had a grim, too-calm look on her face almost but not quite masking the incredible sadness underneath.

Something had gone wrong. Thoughts of newly detonated bombs, an unnoticed sale, ran through Kensi's mind. They'd screwed up, somehow.

Looking back, it was almost funny. She'd thought that they could fix it. Of course, she'd known, even then. Somewhere in some traitorious part of her mind, she knew. Coward that she was, though, she began to talk loudly; voice ringing false and obvious in the dead silence of the Ops centre.

"I got Michelle, she's at the boatshed with one of the Russians. The narcotics officer, I think-"

"Kensi."

Ignoring Callen, Kensi continued, a hint of desperation sneaking into her voice. "She's fine, Michelle, just waiting to hear from Sam and get back in the field-"

"Kensi." More insistent, this time; but stinging with something like pity.

"Eric, did you find anything new on-"

"Kensi!"

She stopped, shocked, at Callen's raised voice. He almost never spoke to her that harshly, certainly not with so much anger in his voice. She looked up, ready to glare at him, but found him staring at the ground, shaking. She turned instead to the operations manager.

"Hetty..." It was a question.

Hetty held her gaze, and her face softened in sympathy.

And there was her answer, wasn't it?

Hetty spoke, words flowing steadily as if she knew she'd soon be stopped. "Mr. Hanna was compromised- Janvier turned. We lost contact. Mr. Deeks went in as backup, and we lost him as well."

Kensi's mind seemed oddly numb. Out of all of the pain she could have felt, things she could have said, she asked, "He went in alone?"

Hetty broke eye contact for the first time, seeming to be berating herself. "You all did."

Callen glanced at Hetty, then continued for her. "I got there as fast as I could, but they-" his voice broke, "they were gone."

For a beat, it was silent. Then-

"No." Kensi's voice was barely there. "No." She shook her head, clutching a fistful of hair in her hand as her voice grew louder and louder. "No, no, no; Deeks, no-"

Oh look- there was the pain.

Some part of her remembered losing her balance, stumbling forward wildly. She was vaguely aware of arms catching her- Granger, who had been closest -but she shoved him away, standing alone in the middle of the dark room.

"No, no, no," she kept on, her voice breaking from a shout into ragged sobs.

Because _God, _how could she have been so incredibly stupid? How could she, just minutes ago, have been dreaming of- what? Some fairytale, happily ever after reunion with Deeks?

Deeks.

She longed for the numbness of moments ago, longed for anything to replace the staggering pain that seemed an inescapable part of her. Because her reuinion with her partner (if there would even be a reunion at all) would be infinitely far from what she had imagined.

Kensi Blye was not an ignorant girl. She knew what men like Sidorov did to cops.

She'd known it the instant she walked in, and she knew it now: She'd find her partner, that was a given. But if he was dead or if he was alive, he would never recover from what Sidorov would do, never be that same laughing Deeks.

One way or another, her partner was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

_To everyone who reviewed: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Seriously, you have no idea how much it means. ^-^ I won't keep you any more, but this chapter was incredibly fun to write. Kensi's back, and... well, she's being Kensi. ;) _

The weather in Los Angeles was hot. That in itself was nothing new, of course, but the _kind _of hot, that's what was different. This heat clung to your body, wrapping around you 'til your blood boiled and your skin felt on the verge of bursting into flame. This heat was a dead thing, an overwhelming thing, an unrelenting and entirely unwelcome addition to what was already proving to be one of the worst weeks in Kensi's life so far.

_If someone was was to look at her now, they'd see no part of the screaming, crying girl of minutes ago. After her- what? Fit? Panic attack? _

_That was not Kensi. _

_She'd strode out of Ops, letting her feet carry her as far as possible from everything she'd heard. She hadn't had a destination in her mind, so perhaps it really shouldn't have been that much of a surprise to find herself in front of Deeks' front steps. She'd grabbed the key from under the flowerpot, opened the door, and found Monty waiting cluelessly on the front mat. He'd looked at her pointedly, then at his leash hanging by the door. She'd figured Deeks wouldn't mind. _

_Currently, they were running along the beachside road Kensi'd found a couple of blocks away; Monty keeping pace with her determinedly. The other joggers seemed to pass by in a blur, barely registering to Kensi. She noticed, after a while, that she was attracting some unusual looks, as if she suddenly stood out. It was as if the events of the past day had marked her, making her obvious- "Look at her!", the passersby seemed to scream. "Look at her, the weak one who had a tantrum when she found out some bad news!" _

_That was not Kensi. _

_Her lungs were burning, and her muscles screamed, but she kept running. She felt the scruffy dog's heat beside her, and wondered if she should stop. Deeks would never forgive her if she killed his dog. _

_And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. _

_Her partner wasn't gone. He couldn't be, not yet- and she knew that, maybe always had, if she'd had that thought about Monty. _

_Oh God. She had to find him. _

_What was she thinking, wasting time running off and stealing his dog? _

_Kensi turned on her heel, sprinting back towards Deeks' house. She wasn't sure if Monty was following her anymore, but knowing him, he was only a few paces behind. As her steps pounded along with the blood in her veins, two words echoed in her mind: find him. Find Deeks. Find him. _

_Her partner wasn't gone yet. _

_Not until she saw him in front of her would he be gone- even then, it was pretty doubtful, if she was being honest. _

_Because now, here, without Deeks beside her, Kensi knew one thing for certain:_

_That was not Kensi. _

_It couldn't be. _

The heat seemed to encase her, but in a strange way it was actually useful: It sharpened her senses, narrowed her focus with a frightening clarity. The sun beat down on her, and everything seemed unnaturally bright.

_Pictures of abandoned properties in and around the city flashed across the large screen. The pictures appeared and disappeared almost too rapidly for Kensi to process as Nell and Eric dismissed them as possibilities. _

_It had been three days since Sam and Deeks had vanished. To be precise, three days, eight hours, and forty-one minutes._

_Three days, seven hours since Kensi had broken down in Ops._

_Two days, twelve hours since Michelle had seen her daughter and burst into tears._

_One day and six minutes since Hetty had finally shouted at Granger._

_And an infinity since they should have gotten back Sam and Deeks. _

_Kensi stared blankly at the screen, face completely devoid of emotion. She had not broken down since that day- and, she'd sworn to herself, would not again. Her partner needed her sharp, at her best. _

_The stream of pictures continued ceaselessly. _

_"Nell," Kensi asked in a deliberately controlled voice, "do we have any parameters we can use to narrow the field?" _

_The analyst shook her head, eyes darting almost nervously to Kensi. "Sidorov's reach extends pretty far- he has any number of possible allies, each of whom owns multiple properties. And that's not even accounting for abandoned buildings or anything outside city limits!" She sighed, biting her lip. "Sorry, Kensi. We'll keep trying." _

_'Trying isn't good enough!' she shouted in her head, but outwardly, just nodded; albeit a tad wearily. _

_"Alright. I'll... I'll go check with Hetty, then." _

_She turned on her heel, heading out of Ops. In the second before the doors slid shut, she heard Eric say in a half-whisper, "Is it bad that I feel terrified for whoever took him?" _

Despite herself, upon remembering Eric's words, Kensi almost smiled. It wasn't bad.

It was the truth.

A promise.

_She could tell by his voice that this time was different. _

_"Kens-"_

_Kensi stood up from her seat, cutting Callen off with a question. "Did they find them?"_

_Callen nodded, gesturing with a tilt of his head for her to follow him. "We think so. One of Sidorov's associates pays a custodian to maintain a property a couple hours out, at the end of a dirt road in the desert. Only two cars have driven there in the past four months- one of them last Tuesday." _

_As Kensi fell into step beside him, her pulse raced. After almost a week, it felt like Deeks and Sam had been gone for an eternity. (Probably felt worse to them, she reminded herself.) It had been all she could do to restrain herself from panicking again- she still was a complete wreck, of course, but only off the clock. She ran 'til Monty was panting heavily, then went home and pretended that she wasn't crying as she lay tossing and turning, imagining in vivid detail what her partner was going through. Yes, she rationalized, it had definitely been too long. _

_But a small part of her, now that she was faced with this final battle, felt like it had come at her all too quickly and with all the force of a speeding bullet. _

_They entered the armoury and Kensi immediately opened the case containing the heaviest firepower, quickly checking the magazine of an automatic rifle. She heard Callen behind her, checking the clip on his own gun. _

_"Hetty's calling in the SWAT team; we need to act quickly, before they clue in and move. We'll have backup... but then again, so will he."_

_"He'll need it." Kensi said, swinging the gun over her shoulder. She slid a jagged edged knife out of it's sheath, checking for rust or faults. That was when she realized that Callen was looking at her. She knew that look- it normally came from Sam, however. _

_"Don't," she said, shooting him a warning glance. "Don't look at me like that. You're not allowed to pull the responsible team leader card." Despite her words, Callen put down the gun in his hands. _

_"I'm not. I'm pulling the worried friend card." Kensi looked at him, only half exasperated. He held his hands up defensively. "As a friend, Kens... Can you handle this?" When she looked mutinous, he corrected himself. "No, scratch that. I know you can handle it. But I need to know that you can handle yourself, too. We need to follow procedure, not act on emotion." _

_Kensi deliberately didn't make eye contact, focusing a little too intently on the Sig in her hand. "I don't see why that would be a problem." _

_Note to self: Become better at lying to coworkers. _

_Not buying her admittedly rather terrible lie, Callen instead fixed her with his 'i-know-what's-happening-in-your-head-and-am-getti ng-real-tired-of-your-crap' look. God, she hated that look. Mostly because she got it a lot, usually in relation to Deeks. _

_"I need to know you can still follow orders, Kens." _

_"I always do." she said, smiling innocently. Callen stared on, unrelenting, and it occured to her that her and Deeks had both been wearing their comms when he'd kissed her- and hadn't he been wearing a cam, too? _

_Holy crap._

_That's why everyone'd been acting so weird. And oh dear God, Hetty and Assistant Director Granger had seen it too. If it had been any other day, Kensi would have died of embarassment. As it was, though, she contented herself with a furious blush. _

_Callen assumed she was flushed with frustration at his words; because when he spoke again his tone was kinder, more empathetic. "My partner is gone too, Kensi. I feel the same as you."_

_Surprising herself, Kensi shot the team leader a half smile. "Nothing personal, Callen, but if you and Sam's relationship is the same as mine and Deeks', I'll be kind of concerned." She slid the gun into it's holster as Callen smiled grudgingly. He looked at her appraisingly for a long second, sizing her up, then held out the crook of his arm. _

_"Shall we get our partners back?"_

_Kensi cocked the gun slung over her shoulder, taking his offered arm._

_"Let's." _

The blood pounded in Kensi's ears, and the heat seemed to cover her completely. It was entirely silent, save for the faint sounds of cars on the far off motorway.

For a second, it stayed like that, and all she heard was the beat of her heart as it threatened to break out of her chest.

Then the comm in her ear buzzed to life.

"Move in, all teams move in." Callen hissed from across the large property.

Kensi nodded to the armed agents flanking her, and stood from her crouched position; pulling her gun into place as she moved forward. She heard a shout from down the dirt road, and saw a man in a black suit pulling an automatic rifle over his shoulder. Instinctively, she aimed and fired, landing a shot through the middle of his head. The sun glinted off her gun, and she moved closer to the house where her partner was waiting.

Good or bad, this ended now.


	3. Chapter 3

_I cried while writing this chapter. So did Kensi. ; ) _

_I apologize in advance, my loyal readers and wonderful reviewers. We're almost done, just a little epilogue of sorts after this. _

As far as abandoned buildings converted into torture chambers go, this one fit all the requirements. Empty cement walls, some thin panelling; shelves full of hideous metal contraptions- and look, was that a blood spatter on the floor? In the most bizzaro sort of way, it was a bit of a comfort: This scene straight from a horror movie was so terrifying, it was almost predictable.

So that was something, at least.

A burst of gunfire could be heard loudly over the comms, and more faintly from across the building, where Callen's team was. Between the two of them and their teams of agents, they'd blocked the two main exits, with reinforcements closing in outside. The plan was simple, the kind of tactical offence that they'd practiced and executed countless times before: Get in, take out any threats - Sidorov being a priority - and get Deeks and Sam home. They'd been given the order for lethal action; Granger had finally agreed that this had to end. Outwardly, the plan was foolproof- dangerous, yes, but then, when was their job not? They had superior numbers, training, and a common goal. It would go right, there was no other option.

Of course, as soon as Kensi saw the blood on the ground, the plan went to hell and back again. Her partner's face swam through her mind, accompanied by Sam's, and then countless other faceless men and women who had met brutal ends in this place- the faces flickered through, millions in the space of a second, always ending up back with Deeks.

Then a spattering of gunfire came from her left and she dispelled her partner's face from her thoughts with as much force as she could muster. Dropping to the ground with a shout to the agents around her, she made her way to a large steel cabinet, ducking behind it as she cocked her gun. The automatic fire sprayed across the entrance, but her team had got out of range- the shooter was obviously inexperienced, or panicked, because he kept shooting. Kensi held her breath, wincing as the hot metal fragments drew closer. Then the automatic fire stopped, and with a wave of her hand, she spun the corner and fired. The man who'd been shooting at her tried to run, but she caught him in the leg.

"Take his gun," she barked at one of the agents, who hastily disarmed him.

One down, forever to go.

And from then on, it seemed almost a blur. The sunlight filtered through the barred windows, mingling with the smoke and lingering gunpowder. An instant of calm, then just as suddenly, another enemy, or two, or three, lunging forward with any number of lethal weapons. She could hear the same over the headsets happening to Callen; and even as the assailants grew fewer; and even as she drew closer to center of the building; it all blurred.

Couldn't have been more than a few minutes. And yet, had you asked, she couldn't have counted the bodies. Couldn't have said how she'd managed not to get killed. Because the whole time, as bullets flew, all she could think was that this was never what she'd envisioned when she'd thought of the future, this hideous, death filled house. And yet, she wouldn't change it- because this was her family.

She thought of Sam, and his wife, who'd wasted so much of their lives on this case.

She thought of their children, who right now, thought their parents were on a business trip.

She thought of Deeks, who was probably not thinking anything because of what had happened to him; because of this stupid mess that he, that they'd all wandered into and had become their family.

And then, just like that, she was face to face with Callen, holding upright a violently coughing Sam. Forgetting all semblance of proper protocol, Kensi dropped her gun and dropped to her knees beside them. She hugged Sam close, and was surprised to feel his arms wrap around her too, still as large as ever- though thinner, since last time. She drew back, and surveyed his face, looking at the damage. He had bags under his eyes and lashes on his cheeks that seemed permanently etched in. And, she noticed, looking more closely, his arms were shaking slightly.

"You good, Sam?" she asked weakly.

"Good." He managed to grunt out, before coughs wracked his body yet again. Kensi looked at Callen, who was managing to look repulsed and relieved at the same time.

"He was hooked up to that," Callen said, gesturing with a nod to what appeared to be a large generator. "From what I could tell, he's been tortured on and off for information- obviously, he hadn't given in. I got in here, and Sidorov had a gun to Sam's head, telling us to let him go." There was a slight undercurrent of pride in the senior agent's voice.

"And Sidorov?" Kensi asked, unsure what had conspired.

Callen, one arm still supporting Sam, pointed to a crumpled body at the side of the room.

And so Sidorov, the cause of all this, was gone, just like that. Kensi didn't particularly care how, though, because right now the man who had once been such a major concern was a body in the corner; and she had more important matters.

"Deeks." she said, looking at Sam. Sam was alive, and he surely was more of a threat- that meant Deeks was fine, then, didn't it? They had nothing to gain from killing Deeks.

_They had nothing to gain by kidnapping him either, _her brain reminded her, _and they still did that. _

Sam, with great difficulty, had managed to pull himself up to a sitting position. When she said Deeks' name, however, he seemed to crumple in on himself.

"They asked him," said Sam, "about Michelle. Whether she was an agent. They did terrible things, worse than when I was in the SEALs- worse, because he wasn't trained for any of this. He could have cracked, and no one would have thought any less of him-"

"That's a lie." Kensi said, in a voice that was barely there. "You would have. I would have too, but he didn't crack, did he? Not Deeks."

And she knew what happened to people who didn't crack.

"I'm sorry, Kensi." Sam said, grasping her shaking hand in his. "Until two days ago, they kept at him- me too, but him more, because they said he was weaker... They realized he wasn't, I guess." He started wheezing again, crumpling over in coughs that may have been mingled with choked sobs.

Kensi felt empty. Any joy she had felt upon seeing Sam, any faint hope she'd managed to build up in the minute since (had it really been only a minute?), was gone.

After all, she was too late.

She had failed him.

And why was she not crying, now?

From the corner of her eye, she saw Sam and Callen exchange a glance, and Callen extended an arm towards her; but she stepped away. Pushing open the door, she left her teammates and Sidorov's body and walked into the room where her partner had been tortured for almost a week.

She saw him.

He was lying, kicked aside, out of the line of view from where Sam had been sat. He lay on his back, head lolling to the side with a cheek pressed to the ground with a small pool of blood.

And who was this Kensi going towards him, this empty nothing of a person? It felt as if she was being held together by threads that snapped with each step towards the man lying on the ground.

And she dropped to the ground beside him.

And she held his head in her lap.

And - wasn't this just the kicker - he did not look dead. His face was beaten beyond belief, body frighteningly thin (after _one week)_, clothes torn and lips much the same; but he did not, because of the sheer fact that he was Deeks, look dead. His hair was still long and his beard was still scruffy and he was going to wake up any second and smile at her because this was _Deeks_; and he didn't die, he just didn't. That was not how their story was supposed to end, this eternally smiling boy and stupid, stupid stubborn girl. Not like this.

She touched his matted hair gingerly, carefully, as if not to cause him any more pain. Still her mind felt oddly blank, as if her brain couldn't quite figure out how it was supposed to react to the death of this man who she teased and tolerated and may have maybe loved and who wouldn't be opening his always-smiling eyes any more.

Which was why she was so surprised when he did.

"Hi," he said, and may have said something else, but Kensi didn't notice because she shouted and heard footsteps and Callen came running. And then she was pulling him to her, crying just a bit hysterically. She clung to him fiercely, only seconds later remembering that he was hurt. She pulled back the tiniest bit, pushing his hair off of his face and just then realized that she was saying his name over and over.

"Oh, Deeks, oh my God, Deeks,"

His eyes fluttered, but that was okay because the ambulance was on it's way and he was _here, _he was alive and he was hers. Shaking uncontrollably, Kensi choked out a laugh that was almost a sob, tears mingling with her smile. Deeks moved a hand wearily, and it quickly fell back on the ground. It occured to her that he hadn't eaten or drank anything in almost two days, not to mention what else his body had been put through. Kensi grabbed his hand in hers, pressing her lips to it and holding it so tight her knuckles were white.

Deeks' eyes opened wide again, and he looked at her curiously. His mouth was so mangled that it seemed difficult for him to talk, but he looked at her for a long moment with something that - how did he do it? - may have been a smile before saying in a barely there voice, "Have I ever told you, Fern, that I never break promises?"

Kensi started crying and laughing all over again, and Deeks' eyes closed again; his head dropping again into her lap as she held him and rejoiced over the fact that, for once, Sam had been wrong and so had she.

She didn't take her eyes off of him, relishing every minute movement of his chest and breath that escaped his lips. Even now, after all that had happened to him, he looked innocent, childlike in sleep; for now entirely free of the nightmare that the last week had obviously held.

This man, she realized, looking down at him, was so much more than she had thought. More than they had all thought.

She closed her eyes in this fragile thing that had become her bliss, and did not let go of his hand in hers.

So much more than they'd thought.


	4. Chapter 4

_And with this little epilogue, __Heartbeat__ comes to an end. Everyone who's bothered to read this story: 1. You have exceptionally poor taste in stories, and 2. You helped make a very tough week infinitely easier._

_There'll be more - much more - from me before hiatus ends; I'm just getting started! :) _

His eyes opened, and realized two things: First, the absence of fear. Next, Kensi was holding his hand. And that was, looking back, when he knew that things were going to be okay.

Ironically, he was embarassed when he felt tears in his eyes.

"Deeks," his partner said, moving out of her chair to perch on the side of his bed. Her eyes were looking unusually shiny as well, and she winced with him as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Drinking in every detail of the one person he'd given up ever seeing again, he looked at their entwined fingers and closed his eyes, holding in tears.

He was dead. He had to be.

Extending the hand that was not holding hers, he caressed her cheek carefully, not fully believing that she was real. She leant slightly into his hand, and for a moment they stayed like that.

"You were gone." he said, and he was surprised at the effort it took for the words to come out.

"I know." she responded, looking into his eyes as if for the last time. He would have been surprised by the intensity of her gaze, were it not for the fact that he was doing the exact same thing. Because after all that had happened, this had to be the last time- they'd wasted their beginnings, countless times over. He'd all but given up, coming to terms with the finality of their first and last kiss.

"Everything hurts." A bit of himself snuck into that one, the petulant tone he so often used to annoy Kensi. He looked down at the arm that connected them, and saw a rainbow of cuts and bruises. Against his will, he flinched at the vivid memory of the pain. "I was scared." He tried to put a joke into his voice, tried to lighten his words with a smile; but it came out pitifully see-through and barely there. The corner of Kensi's lips twitched, but her gaze remained as intense as ever. Her fingers tightened around his, as if she could hold him to her and never let him go. He half wished she could. It would certainly make things a lot easier for them; save them the trouble of pretending that the past week had never happened. Yes, he thought, I can be Deeks again. We can pick up where we left off, bickering and dancing around the thing. Things will be normal again. Smile, Deeks. She's sad, so smile.

"You found me." He said, looking down wistfully at their connected hands.

"No."

Surprised, Deeks looked towards her, arching an eyebrow in confusion. Kensi shook her head, and smiled as if surprised that it had taken her so long to come to this realization.

"No," she said again, "You found me."

And really, who needed things to be normal again anyways?

This time, he didn't have to tell himself to lean towards her, or to respond as she beat him to it and kissed him with everything she had, or to keep her hand in his and refuse to let go; because by now, he figured that fate owed them enough to make something go easily.

And after everything and back again, it finally did.


End file.
